Dallas Buyers Club is ultimately the story of one man finding redemption against the odds. Based on a true story, it follows Ron Woodroof (played by Matthew McConaughey), a homophobic electrician, as he fights to prolong his life after he is diagnosed with HIV and given 30 days to live. So far, it seems a fairly conventional story, perfect for Oscars season, when films about the AIDS crisis always seem to get a nod in their direction. The film itself is told in a fairly conventional way, beginning by showing Woodroof in his element – at a rodeo, placing bets and sleeping with copious women. His life is quickly thrown into turmoil as an accident at work sends him to hospital where he is diagnosed with HIV and given a month to live.
After a brief period of denial, he heads to Mexico to find treatment not licensed by the FDA in America and ends up forming the ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ to give medicine to other sufferers of the disease. During this time he also forms a friendship with Rayon, a transsexual (played by Jared Leto), and his doctor Eve (Jennifer Garner) and ultimately learns how to be a more accepting person. With a plot like this, this film could all too easily end up being just another saccharine tale of redemption and fighting in the face of adversity. Yet, it is under the careful direction of Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallée that this film manages to take what could easily be an over-the-top, over-played and over-acted film and imbue it with a highly welcome sense of dryness and stoicism.
Scenes that a lesser director might be tempted to make highly emotive, Vallée underplays, allowing the nuanced acting and emotive script to shine through. It is through this that small moments throughout the film become so emotionally charged. When Woodroof and his companion Rayon are in the supermarket and meet one of Ron’s old (homophobic) friends, the look in Rayon’s eyes when Ron stands up for him is both beautiful and telling. Moments like this in any other film may be passed by, but in Dallas Buyers Club, they are all the viewer has.
Matthew McConaughey has been highly praised for his role in Dallas Buyers Club, and rightly so. Having already won the Golden Globe and SAG Award for Best Actor, and hotly tipped to take home an Oscar too, his role in this film is a far cry from his days as Hollywood’s go-to man for romantic comedies like How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days and The Wedding Planner. McConaughey takes on the physical and mental challenges that his role in Dallas Buyers Club demands with gusto, putting his all into the task and bringing a subtle charm to the character of Woodroof. Leto’s abilities as an actor should be praised too – despite criticism from the trans community for casting a cisgender male as a transsexual, Leto’s brilliant portrayal of softly-spoken Rayon serves as a contrast to the hardness of Woodroof, and is outstanding in its own right.
Whilst it is practically guaranteed to succeed at this year’s Oscars, it seems to me that Dallas Buyers Club will be remembered and celebrated long after the awards ceremony, for its stellar cast and fantastic directing. Despite the snub from the British Academy, Leto is tipped for Oscar glory, and McConaughey’s acting career will surely only go from strength to strength after this career-changing performance.
With this film, Vallée has taken a topic that, whilst many may shy away from, others would be tempted to create an emotional, almost cheesy film from – and turned it into a work of art that will stand the test of time.